Issue No. 09 | State of Play

Game Theory

The games people play can tell us a lot about who they really are. Games are how we prove things to others, and ourselves; they can act as proxies for interpersonal politics and can be used to wield power ... or take it away. At the center of this month’s issue is Darius Clark Monroe’s new documentary Black 14, which explores white pathology in the United States and one community’s vicious response to a group of college athletes’ protests for racial justice. Other stories include The Artists, a digital documentary series about early video-game designers, and tales of female billiards players, flat-track motorcycle racers, and more.

ILLUSTRATION & ANIMATION BY CARI VANDER YACHT

Monologue

Mo’ne Davis: Surviving the Sting of a Bad Loss

By Lauren Schmidt

One of the most famous young athletes of the 21st century discusses moving on after a devastating loss.

Just for Kicks

By Moises Saman—Magnum Photos and Sam Tarling

In sepak takraw, landing on your feet means you’re probably not playing hard enough.

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Ball Breakers

By Megan Greenwell, Tim Hussin, and Erin Brethauer

The life of a female billiards player is built on long hours, bad pay, and frequent travel. But at least you don’t have to share the table with men.

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The Artists

10 Parts | 1 hr 44 min Meet the designers, developers, and programmers who revolutionized video games and turned game design into an art.

Meet the group of rogue programmers who, in the 1980s, decided to elevate computer games to an art form.
Seeing Farther
10 mins
Seeing Farther
Pong took computer games out of the lab and into the dive bar. Here’s how the runaway success of Ata…
The Revolution Will Be Digitized
13 mins
The Revolution Will Be Digitized
Doom was a fast-paced and immersive first-person shooter game whose success was the envy of the industry.
The Doom Generation
11 mins
The Doom Generation
Though his industry was becoming increasingly concerned with the bottom line, Chris Crawford underst…
The Dragon Slayer
12 mins
The Dragon Slayer
For one programmer, the future of gaming was about more than art. It was a social issue.
Come Together
11 mins
Come Together
Extending his empire to the small screen, George Lucas built a video-game incubator on his own ranch.
Searching for Shangri-La
12 mins
Searching for Shangri-La
Young doctors-turned-game-designers performed a digital transplant on an iconic role-playing game.
Dungeons & Doctors
9 mins
Dungeons & Doctors
The history-inspired Civilization games say less about the past than they do about what’s next.
One More Turn
10 mins
One More Turn
Before video games could get graphic, text-based adventures imagined the future of literature.
Wordsmiths
11 mins
Wordsmiths
From the art gallery to the boardroom, video games are going places their inventors never anticipated.
From Then to Now
10 mins
From Then to Now
caretcaret

Ally Man or Garbage Can?

By Kendra Wells and Augenblick Studios

Meet the game show where your instincts are almost always wrong! From The Nib’s upcoming second season.

Off Topic

Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Engage in Class Warfare

By Chris Maggio and Eric Thurm

Inside the world of socially-conscious board games.

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Speed Racers

By Daniel Weiss and Jaya Saxena 

A photographer’s journey into, and out of, high-risk motorcycle racing.

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All in Your Mind: The Game

By Ann Friedman and Chloe Scheffe

How to psychologically dominate your friends to win at board games, and maybe, life.

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Mixtape

State of Play Mixtape

5 Parts | 51 min Further proof that everyday athletes and their opponents are far more fascinating than paid professionals.

Breakup and betrayal: it’s a long slog up a steep hill.
The Climb
8 mins
The Climb
Lies, betrayal, threats, and bowls of chips.
The Politics of Competitive Gaming Among Friends
11 mins
The Politics of Competitive Gaming Among Friends
A gym manager helps a young girl achieve her weight-lifting goals.
Iron Hands
12 mins
Iron Hands
Grinding and flipping with the girls and boys of Kabul’s first skate club.
Skateistan
10 mins
Skateistan
Two friends decide to settle a debate about the best cyclist of all time by jumping on a pair of bik…
Bike Race
13 mins
Bike Race
caretcaret

Level Up

By Mark Peterson and Bijan Stephen

Working as a professional gamer could mean a steady income doing something you love. But not everyone can make the cut.

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Anatomy of a Pinball Machine

By Liz Stinson and Hannah Whitaker

How pinball wizardry gets made.

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Black 14

By Darius Clark Monroe, Yvonne M. Shirley, Doug Lenox, and Spike Lee

Directed by Darius Clark Monroe and executive produced by Spike Lee, this documentary short tells the story of what happened when a group of college athletes decided to protest racial injustice.

Asking For More: The Lessons of the Black 14

By Rembert Browne

The outrage performed by white people in response to racial justice activism hasn’t changed much in the past 50 years.

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About the Cover: State of Play

By Topic Staff

All about this month’s roundly entertaining cover image.

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Off Topic

I Want My ChessTV

By Kevin Lincoln and Ruohan Wang

Welcome to fast-playing, trash-talking, chair-throwing, high-stakes world of online chess.

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Off Topic

Tales of Glory from the 2018 Paralympics

By Maggie Mertens and Pablo Iglesias

After the Winter Olympics, a new set of elite athletes take to the playing fields of ice and snow.

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Dating Game Theory

By Ron Eyal

Whether you’re whispering sweet nothings or trying to find “the one,” turns out love is just a numbers game.

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